Wednesday, March 22, 2017

By the time I signed my publishing contract in early 2016, I already had two books written and had an outline for the final book in The Runes of Issalia trilogy. Despite the need to actually write book three and a daunting number of edits before any of them could be published, I believed that it might be possible to complete and release all three books within a twelve month window.

Amazingly, it all came together and the release of An Empire in Runes is on the near horizon with an official publication date of April 27, 2017!

I'm looking forward to the release date, eager to receive reader feedback on the culmination of the plot I first envisioned so long ago.

As the story coalesced from my imagination into words on paper, I found myself deeply connected with the cast of characters, experiencing joy in each of their victories and sorrow when they endured loss. While the story of Brock and his friends ends with book three, the impression that they leave on the world of Issalia is significant and future tales within this world will undoubtedly hearken back to them in some manner. Until then, I hope they live on in your heart and imagination as they exist within mine.

Anyway, on to the COVER REVEAL. It depicts a key scene within the book. I hope you like it.

Wednesday, March 8, 2017

A year ago, I was an unpublished author who was eager to share my imagined adventures with the world. Now, I have two YA/fantasy books published with a third on the way (coming in April). I've been exposed to the pains and joys of publishing and have been able to engage with a group of awesome readers, many of whom are now fans. While I won’t reach my one-year anniversary as a published author until May 5th, I HAVE hit another milestone this week: It’s been oine year since I launched my online presence, including my Facebook page and author website. Accordingly, I thought I’d share some statistics for those who are interested in numbers.

As I write this, my Facebook Page has 462 followers, with more joining each week. In addition, my page and associated content has reached over 173,000 people in the past year. One quarter of that reach has been organic while the other three quarters relates to paid ads. Below, you will find charts associated with this data.

My author website is my home base, which includes info on my books, the world of Issalia, upcoming author events, and my author blog. In addition to acting as a resource for interested readers, I intentionally created an ecommerce site to make it easy for friends, family, and fans to purchase signed print copies of my books, regardless of payment method.

A year in and I an excess of 4,000 hits to my website, consisting of more than 3,600 unique visitors. As with any website, users originate from all around the globe. While the vast majority of visitors come from the United States, some of the other countries on the top ten list might surprise you. Check out this information, along with the social media referral sites below. As you can tell, about a third of my website visitors accessed my page from a link on social media. Interesting stuff.

Thanks to everyone who has liked or shared posts on social media and I especially thank you for reading my books. Book three of my series comes out in April. I am eager to hear what you think about the book and about how The Runes of Issalia trilogy ends. While THIS particular story comes to a conclusion, there are other tales to tell and I'm working on the next one as you read this. Look for more info in my quarterly newsletter, coming soon. Cheers!